Basically, Madrid was a place rich, and perhaps even overflowing with history!

We could ride a boat here!

Super pretty park and a super humongous one at that!

During the walking tour, the guide brought us to a few historic locations like this castle, that was originally built as a mosque, then brought down to become a church and a temple, but bits and pieces of it are retained from each point of history and religion so that now it became a symbolic piece of monument. I think, it is simply breathtaking knowing how much a place is so treasured by so many people from different walks of life in the past and today, even if the place might not look like it is made out of gold or whatever.

I totally recommend the Sandeman’s walking tour. Initially, we went for the western side tour of Madrid. We learnt about Spanish history and all the complex relationships of the kings and queens. ( Like yeah, relationships in dramas are legit can you believe it?!) It was so interesting we decided to go for the Majestic Madrid tour, which focuses on eastern Madrid, with a bit of Shakespeare and other trivia about other famous poets, (and their spectacles).

Accommodation

We kinda got the whole house to ourselves, and it was pretty great. Cooked some breakfast and dinner by ourselves, but more of Cheryl cooking for me yay. Too bad we couldn’t talk much with the owners of the house. They seemed like super fun guys to talk to, cause their house was full of really interesting things and have magnets from all over the world, places I’ve never even heard of!

However, getting to Madrid was such a pain. We took an overnight bus and we just had to be on a bus with a large group of school kids behind us and a family with a baby in front of us. Everything was so chaotic, and a little uncomfortable. And when we reached Madrid, we were already exhausted in the early morning.

Other memorable moments..

Famous Churros Shop that was a bunker for resistance troops during the war!

Acts of Kindness

The bus stopped at the airport before reaching the bus terminal. When we reached the airport, I was unsure which was our stop and was about to ask the driver as he was unloading the luggage, but a very nice dark-skinned man asked me if i needed help. He waited for me to show the paper ticket (which was in Spanish mostly) and his perfect English was so nice to listen to I was unknowingly melting from it on the inside. He told me that  my stop was the last stop so i should go up the bus quickly. And gave me like a pat on the arm.

Extremely grateful to have met nice people like him :’) And it was extra special to have seen it during the fasting month.

I decided to pay it forward by buying a legit Real Madrid shirt out of my own pocket money for my little brother. Hehe.

The Grass is not Always Greener on the Other Side

On another note though, one thing that I realized here that there are a lot of the homeless here, which I was saddened by, yet grateful for the things we have back at home. And yes to non-smoking areas back in SG too, because everyone literally smokes everywhere, any day, anytime here. I have to admit it gets a bit annoying, but hey that’s part and parcel of travelling 🙂

Solo Day

Cheryl ate her first llao llao in Madrid, and she somehow got a really bad stomachache and went home early. And I really wanted to visit the museums around the area after our walking tour, so I went to the museums alone for the first time! I liked the freedom of freely walking anywhere I want to and at my own pace. I managed to visit the maritime museum and the Prado museum in one day! I really liked some of the exhibitions. Too bad I went to the archaeological museum after it closed.

Overall, Madrid was pretty hot and had a lot of walking but, still great nonetheless 🙂